Have I told you before what a restaurant is? It is this enchanting place where you are given a book-full of options of dishes to choose from…yes you actually get a choice of what you want to eat! Not like at home where you have to eat whatever sub-standard fare is being served up that day. Anyway, you choose what you want to eat and then the food is magically brought to you. Isn’t that amazing!

Now yesterday was not by any means my first time visiting a restaurant. I’ve been to many restaurants in my life, but Mamma’s always brought along some home-made food for me to eat while the adults sat there feasting to their heart’s content and satisfying all their culinary cravings. Hmpf! Well not anymore. Yesterday Mamma finally declared that I am old enough to eat at a restaurant too. So off the 3 of us went on our first fancy restaurant meal as a family.

Hmmm…what shall I eat?

Now this was a momentous occasion as you can imagine, so I took my time going through the menu and chewing on it (no I mean literally…chewing on it. It’s the damn teething again. Plus the thought of all that food was making me hungry). Anyway after spending considerable time weighing all the options, I decided I wanted fried chicken, a double cheese burger, chocolate chip waffles topped with whipped cream and 2 scoops of strawberry of ice cream.

Hey! Any word on when the food will be here?

Hardly able to contain my excitement, I was unable to sit constricted in Mamma’s lap, so I decided to take a stroll around the place and peek into other people’s meals. At this point a friendly server appeared with a highchair and politely asked Papa to have me seated. So Papa strapped me into the highchair and that’s when I saw it. A treasure! All the fancy looking cutlery! I proceeded to reach out for each one and bang it against the next because…you know…I enjoy making music. After I tried banging a spoon against a glass, Papa decided that in hindsight it was probably best to let me roam free. So off I went again, this time with Papa in tow.

Finally after what seemed like ages the food arrived… and that is where it all started going downhill. I was pretty sure there was some mix up with my order because what was brought to me looked a lot like khichdi! But Mamma didn’t seem to think there was any mix-up. It seemed to be exactly what she had ordered for me. WHAT!! You brought me here to each khichdi??!! Of course I had to make my displeasure known. I proceeded to splash the contents of the bowl all around the place. A visibly red faced Mamma tried to move the bowl out of my reach while giving apologetic glances to the staff and other diners. Papa gave her THE look…you know the “I told you so! I told you this was a bad idea” look. Finally truce was reached and we settled on soup and French Fries. It wasn’t the culinary extravaganza I had been looking forward to, but it was quite a feast nonetheless.

So there. That was my adventurous, eventful first fancy restaurant meal! The first of many more to come I hope!

– Baby Gourmand

We’ve been taking Baby N to restaurants since the time he was a month old probably, because both my husband and I enjoy dining out. Though its true that I was very particular about his food and didn’t allow any outside food for him till he was over a year old. It is also true that many of our restaurant visits look much like this scene, with either one of us following him around while he explores the place, or trying to stop him from banging the cutlery.

Eating out with baby doesn’t always have to be stressful. It can actually be a fun family bonding time if you plan well. If you are planning on eating out with baby, here are a few hacks I’ve picked up through our experience:

Opt for family-friendly restaurants rather than fine dining ones. Fellow diners in a family-friendly restaurant are much more likely to be sympathetic and less judgmental of a fussy baby

Call the restaurant beforehand to check if a booster or highchair is available, especially if your child is an independent eater like ours is. Wherever not available, we always carried our own booster seat along

Check the menu in advance to ensure that there is something for your baby to eat and also save precious time while ordering. Carry along backup food anyway, just in case. A hungry baby is most likely to be a fussy and cranky baby

Don’t make the mistake I made and ask for khichdi and daal chawal at every restaurant. Give the poor child a chance to indulge a little too!

Carry along something to keep the child engaged while the food arrives. When N was smaller, books, cars small toys (not the noisy ones..be mindful of fellow diners too) worked best. Now as a toddler he prefers a doodle board, stickers or colouring books